Most high school students would agree, senior portraits are somewhat of a right of passage.
Showcasing each student’s individuality, interests, accomplishments or future university, senior photos are a long-anticipated way to visually document the person each student has grown into over the last four years.
For Madisyn Babcock, though, the opportunity to model for her senior portraits wasn’t so much about her accomplishments, but rather raising awareness about her illness and reclaiming her sense of beauty.
Madisyn Babcock
For years, Madisyn had grown her hair out long and luscious. But a silent medical condition called alopecia quickly claimed her long locks, leaving her with a bald head.
Alopecia is an autoimmune disorder that leads to severe hair-loss. More than your typical strands coming lose in the shower, alopecia patients lose their hair in clumps, leaving them with bare patches, or completely bald.
Though Madisyn says she typically wears head covers to hide her bald spots, she saw her senior photos as an opportunity to shed light on her condition, which affects an estimated 6.8 million people here in the U.S.
Rather than covering her head for senior photos, Madisyn embraced her beautiful bald-headed self.
Chelsea Taylor Photography
“I was so glad when she decided to show off her head for her senior session and even more excited when she shared her idea to turn it into a work of art!” Madisyn’s photographer and friend, Chelsea Taylor, says. “Madisyn’s mom spent hours drawing out the design and painting it on the morning of her shoot—it turned out beautifully, and her images are a direct reflection of her spirit!”